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Expanded role for crystal meth task force

From left are Alison Govier, coordinator of the Community Drug and Alcohol Strategy, David Roy, c-chair of the strategy and program director for addiction services at HopeGreyBruce, Mike Devillaer of the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, McMaster University, and Barb Fedy, co-chair of the strategy and director of Grey County Social Services. (Supplied photo)

The Grey Bruce Task Force on Crystal Meth and Other Drugs is expanding its mandate.

As part of the expansion, the group that involves a network of over 30 local partners, has changed its name to the Community Drug and Alcohol Strategy.

“We recognize there continues to be crystal meth use in the community, so we are not saying we have solved the problem and it is time to move on to something else,” Alison Govier, coordinator of the Community Drug and Alcohol Strategy said Friday. “But we are also seeing a trend in polysubstance use -- dependence on more than one substance at a time -- so we feel as a community our efforts are better spent to expand the mandate to include all substances.”

According to the strategy, emergency room visits related to substance use increased by 65 per cent between 2002 and 2015, with alcohol involved in the majority of cases, followed by opiod use.

Govier said the strategy intends to work together collectively to reduce harms related to all the substances, including alcohol, opioids, marijuana, crystal meth, or a combination of the substances.

“It is definitely a really complex issue and I think that is why we have to have a community response and have all of the partners across all the different sectors come together,” said Govier. “If there was an easy fix we wouldn't need to come together, but it is one of those systemic, complex issues.”

The strategy group is made up of treatment services, justice and enforcement, school boards, harm reduction services as well as county social services and housing representatives, family physicians and pharmacists. An opioid working group also includes representatives from area paramedic and police services.

When the local task force first formed in 2009 it was very focused on establishing supports for crystal meth users and their families, as there was a concerning trend of increased use among young people in Grey-Bruce at the time. But over the years, the task force expanded its mandate to include other drugs, with some of the initiatives of the group including training sessions for first responders, and address the stigma around substance misuse.

About a year-and-a-half ago the group felt they needed to undergo a refresh to really delve into what the current issues in the community are. Govier was hired as the coordinator with a role to consult with service providers and community members to identify the key priorities, an exercise that continues.

They have compiled what data they can find on substance use in the area, and plan to release that to the community partners so they can use it in some of their programming.

Some of the priority areas identified are related to the supports that would wrap around an individual who is at risk or is experiencing harm from substance abuse, including affordable housing options, service gaps in smaller communities, and ensuring individuals have a family physician.

“We have been working more closely with family doctors and ER departments to talk about how we can support people who might be struggling with alcohol or opioid dependence and make sure we are offering the right kind of treatment,” said Govier.

Representatives from the group will next visit Grey County council on Dec. 14 and Bruce County council on Jan. 4 to increase awareness about the root causes of opioid addiction and local strategies to prevent overdose as well as keep councils up-to-date on the work of the group. In the new year they also plan to do community consultations across Grey-Bruce to get multiple perspectives on ways of addressing substance-related harms locally.

Govier said dealing with substance misuse in the community would be a daunting task if not for the task force, which has brought all the influential community leaders together.

“They have started to build trust, build partnerships, and so I think we have a really good foundation to look at this as a community and what are our local and sort of unique challenges in Grey-Bruce,” said Govier.

The strategy is also an opportunity and mechanism to bring the issue of substance use and the stigma surrounding it to the forefront and educate people about it, especially with all the attention the opioid crisis is getting of late, Govier said.

“As we address the opioid crisis we can also talk about substance use and addictions more broadly and look at it through this health lens and it is really giving us a platform to do that,” said Govier. “We are definitely not forgetting about the harms associated with other drugs, but looking at it as an opportunity to start a conversation locally.”